Wednesday, June 16, 2010

So today, we were all so nervous for class but we all came prepared with questions and we pretty much clarified everything and learned how to spell everything all hour. It was great to finally understand exactly what she expected and what was going on! I forgot to mention that in the other class our teacher changed for the next 2 weeks, then we have another the last 2 weeks. This new teacher is very nice and not as hard core but her handwriting is horrible. But yesterday we started this movie in class about Juana la Loca, Isabel and Fernando’s daughter and Queen of Spain. It’s very interesting and all, but there have been about 4 major sex scenes, which is totally normal here in everything, but more than that we’re watching it in class and after every one our teacher says, “Historically accurate,” which is concerning and seems unreliable if you ask me. Has she ever heard of “Based on a true story?” But today we finished it and the whole class concluded that it really wasn’t Juana la Loca but Juana the Sex-Crazed, which led her to her madness. Oh classes in Spain! But they’re really hard and it’s so strange to give 100% attention ALL of the time because otherwise once you get lost there’s no jumping back in!

After class, we headed straight to Estadio Santiago Bernabéu where we ate our sack lunches and joined the madness of Mundial in Spain. We signed a giant futbol and got free hats and fans. Then we made our way as close to the outdoor screen as possible and people began packing in around us. I think we ended up by the craziest people! There were about 9 guys in front of us who brought all kinds of alcohol and we’re drinking it straight up with a little Coke, and then they were spilling everywhere and hugging and singing and breaking the bottles. But we were looking for crazy…gotta get the whole experience! We stood the whole game, and the before the game was my favorite part. They pulled random people up from the crowd to show off their futbol skills and trivia answers. Luckily we didn’t get called up. And they had all this music and dancing. Then the songs started, the official pregame songs. We sang along as best as we could, most of the songs repeated lines that we tried to say. The official song is “La Roja,” then there was one about champions, then there was one that we got that went “Yo soy Espanol Espanol Espanol! Yo soy Espanol Espanol Espanol!” Then the guys in front of us were convinced we were from Switzerland (the team Spain was playing) and we tried to explain we were not and they face painted Spanish flags on our faces. Then there was the Spanish version of “Oh Suzannna” mixed with “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” which was werid! All we could understand of those were the rhythms and they said the words “Oh Suzannna.” The game itself was super intense with so many almost goals. It went crazy whenever there was a call, and people all stood on their tiptoes to see and then no one could see. But then we lost and it was super depressing, especially since Spain went in Number 1. They even handed out programs for this game like it was a home game, that’s how big of a deal this was!

Then we went to a sweet shop to wait out the crowds on the metro. Yum! And then Tara and Rene and I went to see the Flamenco show with the school. The theater was underground and our seats were 3rd row. It was the most amazing show I’ve ever seen. I love Flamenco! There was a very classic dance, then just the singers, then a dance where the dancer’s dress had a very long train and she kept flicking it around, along with her fan…it was my favorite, then a song, then one with the foot stamping, the another song, and a final one that was upbeat. The whole thing was amazing and it ranged from sad to happy to serious. And the rhythm is so weird, I don’t know how they all stay together. There was a guitarist, a percussionist, and another instrument player and three singers and the dancer made beats with her feet and fan and hitting her body and clapping. It was so good!
Our teacher said we could stay for free for the second show, which she called contemporary. Well, it was definitely out there. We thought there would be more pieces than one, so we stuck around even after 10 minutes of a man crawling around stage, putting on clothes, and finally exiting, but then he came back on, and met another man. A company of two. So we kept waiting. It got really bad, I mean their technique was fine but then there was stroke lighting and then a red spinning light and then they undressed eachother to dancer’s shorts and ran around and lifted each other and moved these boxes around stage. Then they rolled out red carpets and frolicked around. FINALLY it was over, 40 minutes later. Then we read the program and found out the whole piece was called Encontra2 and was about not hiding in yourself and coming out of your shell. Oh man, Spain!